Jury in Shrewsbury murder trial sees video of victim's battered face

WORCESTER — Dispatched to a Deerfield Road home four years ago on a report of an unresponsive woman, three Shrewsbury firefighters instead found a body rolled up tightly in a white blanket.

In a dark room, Firefighter Mark Turner unwrapped part of the blanket only to find the body was swaddled in a second blanket underneath the first.

When he managed to expose the woman's face from beneath the coverings, Firefighter Turner was confronted with a gruesome visage, he said Monday afternoon in the trial of Keith Rosiello, who is charged with murdering his wife, Maureen Rosiello, in February 2010.

"It appeared to me she was beaten," Firefighter Turner testified. "Her eyes, it appeared to me, the best way I could describe it was it looked like a plum on both eyes."

A few minutes before that testimony, the Worcester Superior Court jury had watched a state police video of the crime scene in which the camera moved from cluttered room to cluttered room, panning down at times to what appeared to be blood smears on the floor.

After about 10 minutes, the video camera settled on a flashlight-lit close-up of Mrs. Rosiello's battered face, her eyes swollen shut and bruised dark purple.

The 44-year-old mother was later found to be covered in scrapes and bruises. She had broken ribs and her lungs had collapsed, according to a state medical examiner who also testified Monday.

Mr. Rosiello, 49, sat still and looked at the large television screen at the front of the courtroom without showing any reaction as the silent, jumpy footage played uninterrupted for about 20 minutes. The 42-minute crime scene video, most of which was unremarkable, was played for the jury at double the normal speed to save time.

Crime scene photographs later presented by defense attorney Michael C. Wilcox showed a door, an attic access hatch and two bedroom windows had been partially boarded up inside the house.

Prosecutors contend Mr. Rosiello beat his wife to death in front of their two children. Mr. Rosiello allegedly instructed the children and his sister, Lisa Ricardo, to say Mrs. Rosiello had been the aggressor in the deadly fight. Ms. Ricardo is a co-defendant, but her case has not gone to trial yet.

Mr. Wilcox said in his opening statement last week that at the time of the killing his client was abusing various drugs and suffering from delusions that his wife had been unfaithful and was plotting to kill him. The defense plans to present evidence that Mr. Rosiello's mental breakdown and drug use would not have allowed him to form a coherent plan to murder his wife.

Under questioning from prosecutors Monday, two Shrewsbury firefighters, a UMass Memorial paramedic and a Shrewsbury police officer all testified that Mr. Rosiello appeared calm and composed and had no trouble walking or speaking at the Deerfield Road home on the early afternoon of Feb. 4, 2010.

Investigators have said Mrs. Rosiello was beaten to death in the home at some point the previous day.

Dr. Mindy Hull, a state medical examiner, testified that Mrs. Rosiello died of blunt force trauma. Her body was found to have 60 bruises, 45 scrapes and two cuts to the head. Dr. Hull also said she found multiple rib fractures during an autopsy.

The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning.

Scott J. Croteau of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.Contact Thomas Caywood at tcaywood@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasCaywood.